


Checking It Twice

by astudyinfic



Series: A December of Ty and Zane [10]
Category: Cut & Run - Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux
Genre: Chirstmas gifts, Christmas planning, Domestic Fluff, Found Families, M/M, Some feels, joined families
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-11
Updated: 2018-12-11
Packaged: 2019-09-16 04:28:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16947000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astudyinfic/pseuds/astudyinfic
Summary: In all his life, Zane never had to plan so many Christmas presents before.  Ty, however, is full of ideas.Whether they are all good or not remains to be seen.Day 10:Make a list





	Checking It Twice

**Author's Note:**

> This got a lot longer than I intended but I think it's cute so I'm going with it.

The list lay on the table in front of them, both men staring intently at it.  “I’ve never had to buy this many presents before. I’m not even sure where to start,” Zane mumbled, looking at the seemingly never-ending list of names.  It baffled him how, over the past few years, his circle of friends had grown from virtually no one to an extended family of people he would live and die for.   

Most of the people on the list would be classified as Ty’s family, both biological and Sidewinder.  Somewhere along the way, Zane began to think of them as his family too. The Grady’s, in particular, were his family now as far as he was concerned and he wanted this holiday to be perfect, as a thank you for welcoming him into their home and their lives.  

“Well, I know a couple already, so that won’t be hard,” Ty muttered, tapping his pen on the table in a nervous habit that was sometimes endearing, sometimes infuriating, depending on Zane’s mood.  For now, it didn’t bother him, Zane feeling the same nervous energy. How could he go up against any number of criminals without breaking a sweat but the moment he was charged with buying presents for the people he loved, anxiety gripped him tight?  If he looked too closely at that, Zane didn’t think he would like what he found so he ignored it for now.

“Which ones do you already know?”  He was willing to concede to Ty’s ideas for most of the list, whatever they might be.  He knew the people better than Zane did. And with the camaraderie Sidewinder had, Zane figured they already knew what to get one another.  The question would be if they were serious gifts or ones Zane would be embarrassed to put his name on. 

Marking Earl off the list first, Ty hummed.  “Dad’s the easiest. He needs some new gear for hiking since most of it got lost last fall.”  Zane shuddered at the memory of the trip but did his best to hide it. It certainly wasn’t a trip either of them wanted to make again any time soon.  But as so much had been left behind, it was a thoughtful gift on Ty’s part. 

“That sounds perfect.  I know he’ll appreciate that.  What about your mom?” Mara held a special place in Zane’s heart.  She was the mother he always wished to have. When she accepted him into the family with such ease, something Zane had been pushing down for so long came loose and he realized how desperately he’d wanted a figure like her in his life.  

He also knew how close Ty was with his mother so he expected the gift to be something amazing.  “A new hose,” Ty said, without even looking up from the paper. 

Zane blinked, certain he had to have heard that wrong.  “You’re getting Mara a hose?” 

“Yeah.  Grandpa keeps killing them so it would be good for her to have another one on hand for the next time it happens.”  Good logic, Zane supposed, but Mara deserved something more than that. 

Plucking the pen for Ty’s hand, Zane crossed ‘hose’ off the list.  “You are going to get her something nice, or I will.” This was important, Zane decided, and he wasn’t going to let T off the hook.  “She deserves it putting up with you and Deuce.”

“And you, darlin’.  Might as well start including yourself in that list.  You’re going to give her just as many headaches as the rest of us.”  Zane pointedly ignored the joy he got from such a simple statement. It probably shouldn’t have made him as happy as it did, but every reminder that he was part of the Grady family now gave him the same feeling.  "Fine, a hose and something else.  We'll figure it out later."

Seeing what Ty put down for Chester, he shook his head.  “No! NO! I promised her. You can’t do that.” 

“Aw, come on!  Grandpa will love it!”

“I know he will, Tyler.  That doesn’t mean you have to get it for him.”  Ty held the list away from him as Zane struggled to grab it out of his hands.  “No potato guns for your grandfather! I’d like to be invited back sometime.”

Ty glared at him, the glare that said Zane was no fun and ruining all of his great plans.  “We’ll talk about this later, too. I still think it would be great.”

“How about I get you one and we leave Chester out of it completely.”  Giving such a thing to Ty wouldn’t be much better but at least with Ty, Zane had ways of distracting him if he became too destructive.

The gleeful grin he got in return terrified Zane to his bones.  “Deal! We’ll get Grandpa a whetstone for the shovel instead.” Somehow, Zane knew he’d been played but couldn’t for the life of him figure out where he lost all control.

Ty went down the list, checking of Nick’s name the moment he got there.  “He gets tickets to all the games the Sox play here at Camden. Wrapped in an Orioles shirt, of course, so he can be properly attired when we go.”  Ty filled in the information after Nick’s name, even though they would both remember it, while Zane wondered what would happen to that unfortunate t-shirt.  “Do you want to go with us? I can get three tickets to the games?”

“How about one game per stand?  I don’t want to interrupt your time together.”  Sure, he might have been jealous of Nick at one point but now he knew and respected the man.  Nick was someone Ty needed in his life and after that one kiss, he knew Nick would never try anything again.

Ty continued down the list after putting a three next to the word tickets.  “Kelly is easy. We’ll make a donation to his camp and he’ll be thrilled. He doesn’t have a lot of room for stuff in his cabin anyway so this is much better.”

“It’s amazing what he does for those kids.  I admire him a lot,” Zane murmured, writing Kelly’s present down on the list.  

Ty nodded and leaned against his lover.  “We all do. Doc is a great guy. We were lucky to have him on our team.”  Zane never wanted to be military, knew it wasn’t the place for him. But falling in love with Ty, becoming an honorary member of Sidewinder?  Zane might have reconsidered if those were the guys he had by his side. He wrapped an arm around Ty’s waist and kissed his temple, thankful for his presence in his life.

After a few moments of contented closeness, Ty leaned forward and wrote something else on the list.  Zane rolled his eyes when he read it. “Chester’s moonshine for Owen? I thought you would get him cufflinks or something.”

“Nah, he can get all that fancy shit himself.  He can’t get this anywhere but me. Trust me, he’s expecting and would be disappointed if we didn’t deliver.”  Zane laughed and shrugged. Owen was the Sidewinder he knew the least about, having kept his distance after hearing how he reacted to Ty coming out.  Things were better now but it didn’t mean he was high on Zane’s list of favorite people.

Only one Sidewinder remained.  "Okay, what about Digger? We don't have anything for him yet."  Zane crossed his fingers and hoped moonshine was the answer to this one as well.  Anything else was too terrifying to consider.

"Don't worry about him.  I've got that covered," Ty told him, far too vague for Zane's liking. That didn’t help his nerves at all.

He swallowed, looking warily at his boyfriend.  "Should I be concerned?" 

"No more than usual."  

Zane was downright petrified now.  Whatever it was, it couldn’t be good and he decided that as a member of the law enforcement community, it would be best if he didn’t know anything about it.  "Then please don't tell me. I'd like to maintain my plausible deniability."

The unsettling laughter from his boyfriend made his blood run cold and he waited while Ty carefully wrote something next to Digger’s name.   “You asshole. You did that on purpose.”

“Did what?  You didn’t ask what it was.  You made assumptions and you know what they say about people who make assumptions.”

“Yeah, they usually base said assumptions on previous empirical data and often correct.”  Zane huffed, rolling his eyes. “That is a good gift though. I can’t imagine Digger can have too many fire extinguishers.”

Ty was grinning, his smile bright and warm, the kind that took Zane’s breath away every time he saw it.  He leaned in, capturing a kiss from his lover. Every time he could do that, Zane’s heart raced. Ty just had that effect on him.  

There were only a few names left on the list.  “How about your brother, doll? Have something in mind for him?”

The grin he received wasn’t the warm one he loved, but one that worried him, and Zane was glad he wasn’t the beneficiary of whatever evil was about to come out of Ty’s mouth.  “I already got his gift. I know he’ll appreciate it. It’s a book.” Zane raised a brow, partly annoyed that Ty went book shopping without him and partly worried about what kind of book would create that kind of glee.  “It’s called  _ Yoga for Sex _ .”  

“You didn’t.”

“I did.”  Zane started to argue and Ty shook his head.  “Trust me, whatever he gets for me will be just as idiotic.  It’s our thing. If I got him something useful or thoughtful, he’d be worried.  And when my shrink brother is worried, it isn’t fun for anyone.”

Shuddering, Zane nodded.  He loved Deuce and was thankful for the help he’d given them both, but he didn’t need to be analyzed because of their gift choice.  “Okay, fine. As long as you are sure about it.”

“Trust me.”  

Zane smiled and kissed him again.  “Always.” He looked at the list and frowned.  The rest were his family and the worst part of the holiday season for him.  Not that he didn’t love them but he barely knew them anymore. Sighing, he rested his head in his hands, knowing the question that would be coming any minute.  

“Darlin’, they’re your family.  You have to get them something.”

He looked at the list again, sliding it in front of them.  “I know. I always get Dad some new shirts, so that isn’t difficult.  Annie won’t let me buy them anything. Maybe we could get them a weekend away at a nice hotel.  I can’t imagine it’s easy to be parents of a young child.” Annie might allow that. “Actually, we could do that for Deuce and Livi as well.”

“I’m sure they’d love it, even if Deuce will complain.”

Zane wrote those down as well and then sighed.  One name remained on the list. “Mother.” He frowned, staring at the paper as if it held all the answers he sought.  Nothing he ever did was ever good enough for her, so nothing he bought her would add up either. “She doesn’t need anything but if I don’t get her something, I’ll never hear the end of it.”

Ty’s hand ran up and down his back, not offering any suggestions.  Zane loved that he knew when he just needed to stew about something.  “What if...” he started, trying to find the right words. “What if I made a donation in her name?  Something that would have a plaque in her honor where plenty of people could see it?”

“I think that would be the best possible choice.  You said it yourself, she doesn’t need anything. But she sure loves good publicity.”  Not many people would put up with Zane’s ‘mommy issues’ as Ty once called them, and he was thankful that Ty didn’t seem to mind.  

Zane nodded and wrote that down.  “I’ll do some research. A Texas historical society or something.  That will work.”

Together, they sat back and looked over the list.  Everyone who mattered to them was accounted for, the perfect gift selected for each of them.  “Wait,” Ty said, looking over the list once more. “We’re missing two.”

Zane smiled, amused it took Ty as long as it did to realize.  “It’s taken care of, baby. I have their gifts already. Don’t worry about it.”

“You already bought presents for our two nieces?  What did you get them?” 

Instead of answering, Zane stood and walked to the spare bedroom, digging past the gifts he’d gotten for Ty and pulling out the identical gifts he purchased for both Sadie and Amelia.  Setting them on the table when he returned, he wasn’t surprised to see the emotion in Ty’s eyes. It wasn’t very often that one saw a teddy bear in dress blues, let alone two of them. “I thought they might like to be reminded of their uncle who is my hero.  And Amelia’s grandpa and great-grandpa, as well as Sadie’s daddy. But mostly for their uncle.”

Ty tackled him to the ground, kissing him soundly.  “I love you.”

“I love you too.”  Zane smiled into the kiss, taking Ty’s face in his hands.  

Ty laughed, and Zane joined a moment later.  “I kinda want one for my desk at work,” Ty whispered.  

“I might have one for you, too.  Pretend to be surprised.”

Ty’s answering grin was blinding.

**Author's Note:**

> Come yell at me on [tumblr](http://astudyinfic.tumblr.com), [pillowfort](https://www.pillowfort.io/astudyinfic) or [twitter](http://twitter.com/astudyinfic)
> 
> Also, we made a [Cut & Run discord channel](https://discord.gg/KFfErkb) if anyone is interested in joining and yelling at us about the books we all love.


End file.
